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Thursday, April 27, 2006

Woodson May Play Some "O"

According to reports, one of the things -- in addition to a boatload of dollars -- that might have swayed new Packer Charles Woodson away from signing with Tampa Bay and his old coach, Jon Gruden, is that the Packers told him he would play cornerback and that he would also play offense. In his Heisman Trophy-winning days at Michigan, Woodson would move from defense to offense whenever they needed a big play...and he always delivered. Woodson's prior team, the Raiders, would never let him play offense, and neither would Tampa Bay apparently. In addition, it seems that Tampa Bay told Woodson that they wanted him to play safety, whereas the Packers are telling him he will play corner opposite veteran Al Harris. So much for the Ahmad Carroll experiment.

According to an article in today's online Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "In the end, Woodson thought the best place for him was in Green Bay where he could enjoy personal and team success. 'It was a combination,' (Woodson's agent Carl) Poston said. 'What he wanted was to be with a team that was committed to winning. It was very tough with the Packers coming off a 4-12 season, but he felt with Brett in the twilight of his career that he would be looking to win it one more time.'"

New Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy told Woodson during his visit to the Packers in early April that he would play some wide receiver if he signed in Green Bay. As quoted in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel McCarthy said, "It's something he and I talked about. I've always believed if you have a guy with special qualities you take advantage of it. We'll look at it."

Given the Packers' likely need for receivers, adding an athlete of Woodson's caliber, even coming off injury, certainly gives the team another weapon which could be viable under certain circumstances. What those circumstances are we'll have to wait to see.